Hi
I was prompted to write this noticing that my music buying has decreased dramatically while I am listening to not only more music but to more new and exciting music. Having been an audiophile for decades, perhaps longer than most. Started before my teens and am in my fifties now .... I am an enthusiastic user of Roon, Tidal and Spotify which has announced it will be offer lossless soon although ( here at the risk of losing my hard earned Audiophile creds, I am listening to more SPotify 320 kbs mp3 than I am willing to admit :b :b :b :b and enjoying it) , I haven't embarked on the MQA adventure yet... Although I know that resistance is futile and that I will be assimilated . If MQA sounds as good as it is purported to...
A badge of honor for many music loving audiophiles, is the size or the heft of their music collection. I was in that mode for a long time with a (about) 4000 CD collections and almost that many on LP (which I will likely keep but hardly listen to these days); since discovering the power of music streaming , I hardly buy CDs. I stream and only buy if it isn't available on Tidal or Spotify. I would like to get Qobuz because of its Classical music wealth but it is not easy getting it around here and they're not officially offering it in the USA yet... There is a perception of not much available on the CLassical front on Tidal for example ... then there is the reality of Classical Music available on Tidal.... There is knock on Tidal about its ownership .... The reality is that Tidal has Classical Music, lot of it and lot of Jazz and lot of everything, period! and the rate of growth is such that no particular audiophile can match it .. They add new titles on an everyday basis ... a "yuge", but YUGE collection of music available a the click of a button and with quality to match (almost ?) anything the audiophile has ... Same with Spotify that will soon, if not currently, offer ..lossless.
Of course there are manywho claim the physical thing and the rituals of cleaning a record and ... I understand ( intellectually) and respect that, but would suggest to try streaming. It is easy: A PC and Voila ... The audiophile will make sure to add complications and complexity: Optimizing the PC (Personal Computer) to death and using the largest processor and memory and PC (audiophile Power Cord) and ...and ... but at its most basic, a good Internet connection ( an afterthought in many places nowadays), a computer and perhaps a USB Interface such as the excellent BADA USB interface and one is done .. Music.. Lot of music. High Quality sound, lot, lot , lot , lot of music. The put down is quality over quantity is lame as in anything there are good and bad and Streaming/The Cloud have tons of albums , many if most of the gems we talk about or sometimes items of which we are completely , thoroughly ignorant of ... I lurk mostly at TalkClassical and from time to time there you hear name that most will never hear outside those specialized and sometimes snobbish corners of the 'net... Two names came up as extremely interesting and to my ears they are : Olga Scheps and Helene Grimauld .. 2 up and coming pianists of the highest caliber IMO of course they are on Tidal and on Spotify ... There a few things I haven't been able to find on those two ... and Tidal is lossless and Tidal is MQA and Spotify is to be lossless too soon... The truth is that there is a lot of quality CLassical on both Spotify (not yet? lossless) and Tidal ( already lossless and MQA)
Things are changing fast in the universe. I basically don't buy print books anymore. Amazon Kindle apps to the rescue .. nor do I buy Magazines... Texture is there to save the day. The reality is that Music is in the cloud and most of the Music we may desire is there . conveniently There ... My advice and conclusion: You are missing out, and a lot, if you don't stream. If only for music discovery purpose.
What says the collective what are your thoughts? Why haven't you taken the plunge? ...
I was prompted to write this noticing that my music buying has decreased dramatically while I am listening to not only more music but to more new and exciting music. Having been an audiophile for decades, perhaps longer than most. Started before my teens and am in my fifties now .... I am an enthusiastic user of Roon, Tidal and Spotify which has announced it will be offer lossless soon although ( here at the risk of losing my hard earned Audiophile creds, I am listening to more SPotify 320 kbs mp3 than I am willing to admit :b :b :b :b and enjoying it) , I haven't embarked on the MQA adventure yet... Although I know that resistance is futile and that I will be assimilated . If MQA sounds as good as it is purported to...
A badge of honor for many music loving audiophiles, is the size or the heft of their music collection. I was in that mode for a long time with a (about) 4000 CD collections and almost that many on LP (which I will likely keep but hardly listen to these days); since discovering the power of music streaming , I hardly buy CDs. I stream and only buy if it isn't available on Tidal or Spotify. I would like to get Qobuz because of its Classical music wealth but it is not easy getting it around here and they're not officially offering it in the USA yet... There is a perception of not much available on the CLassical front on Tidal for example ... then there is the reality of Classical Music available on Tidal.... There is knock on Tidal about its ownership .... The reality is that Tidal has Classical Music, lot of it and lot of Jazz and lot of everything, period! and the rate of growth is such that no particular audiophile can match it .. They add new titles on an everyday basis ... a "yuge", but YUGE collection of music available a the click of a button and with quality to match (almost ?) anything the audiophile has ... Same with Spotify that will soon, if not currently, offer ..lossless.
Of course there are manywho claim the physical thing and the rituals of cleaning a record and ... I understand ( intellectually) and respect that, but would suggest to try streaming. It is easy: A PC and Voila ... The audiophile will make sure to add complications and complexity: Optimizing the PC (Personal Computer) to death and using the largest processor and memory and PC (audiophile Power Cord) and ...and ... but at its most basic, a good Internet connection ( an afterthought in many places nowadays), a computer and perhaps a USB Interface such as the excellent BADA USB interface and one is done .. Music.. Lot of music. High Quality sound, lot, lot , lot , lot of music. The put down is quality over quantity is lame as in anything there are good and bad and Streaming/The Cloud have tons of albums , many if most of the gems we talk about or sometimes items of which we are completely , thoroughly ignorant of ... I lurk mostly at TalkClassical and from time to time there you hear name that most will never hear outside those specialized and sometimes snobbish corners of the 'net... Two names came up as extremely interesting and to my ears they are : Olga Scheps and Helene Grimauld .. 2 up and coming pianists of the highest caliber IMO of course they are on Tidal and on Spotify ... There a few things I haven't been able to find on those two ... and Tidal is lossless and Tidal is MQA and Spotify is to be lossless too soon... The truth is that there is a lot of quality CLassical on both Spotify (not yet? lossless) and Tidal ( already lossless and MQA)
Things are changing fast in the universe. I basically don't buy print books anymore. Amazon Kindle apps to the rescue .. nor do I buy Magazines... Texture is there to save the day. The reality is that Music is in the cloud and most of the Music we may desire is there . conveniently There ... My advice and conclusion: You are missing out, and a lot, if you don't stream. If only for music discovery purpose.
What says the collective what are your thoughts? Why haven't you taken the plunge? ...
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